Bogged Down, Part 4
by Vanessa S. Quest
Morgan took down the eighty-ninth push pin from the board, there were approximately twenty photos in a neat pile, the map was still on the board where Reid had dedicated a good portion of his seven-day stint here coloring and eliminating territories for.
All Morgan cared to think of at that exact moment was that Reid, and the rest of the team for that matter, put far too much time in to the job. Morgan knew working here wasn't about the money, hell it wasn't about the glory or even just saving a life… it was about making a difference that the team would never see. It was about saving the lives of the future victims, countless victims that they were here for… and today Reid almost wasn't here anymore because of it. He let out a breathy sigh catching JJ's attention.
"Penny for your thoughts…?" JJ asked.
"Heh, I get the feeling Reid could get a hell of a lot better an asking price for his." Morgan smirked, his eyes were sad no matter what his mouth belied. "I was just thinking the kid's seen too much in his years. I'm hoping he'll be okay."
"Of course he will be, he has Hotch." Prentiss shot, quickly. Morgan raised an eyebrow not sure if she even meant her double entendre. After all, even Morgan had been surprised when he saw the cues Hotch had been shooting Reid for several years now, actually. After all, Hotch had been the straight-laced FBI guy for as long as he'd known him, which was for over seven years. Hotch, wife and kid. Hotch, American dream. Hotch, bisexual with a fixing to fix Reid. Morgan had been surprised but not naïve to the signs. Unlike Reid.
For all the geniusing that Reid had in him, he just could not get the social intelligence necessary to see how obvious Hotch's actions were, which is why Morgan always assumed Hotch would be so overt. Maybe if Reid was more savvy the game of cat-and-mouse would have been harder to pick up on for the rest of them, but with Reid who COULD be? Even a super-star actress had to pull him into a pool and make out with him before Reid even thought she might potentially have a bit of a wayward crush on him and even then the guy just didn't get she meant it. Hero-worship Morgan's ass.
"Yeah, Hotch'll look out for him, but Reid's mind can be a mine-field, you know?" He observed the board carefully evaluating which would be the next set of tacks to take down, he opted to take down Reid's colorful map next. "He shuts down sometimes. He can zone out for hours and then it doesn't matter who's there when he's like that. You know, he'll go house-plant on you, think up a storm and then go for a cup of coffee before turning human again."
"Well, he's SOL because there's no coffee for him for a week, doctor's orders."
"Ten bucks say he doesn't follow that order." JJ offered.
Morgan smiled at JJ, "Do we count on Hotch running interference?"
JJ thought for a moment, "Yeah. All bets are on him not making it a week without getting coffee into him, not just trying to get it into him."
"I'm in."
"Make it twenty. And Rossi'll put in too. I'm sure he'd take the bet. Good margins."
"Oh come ON Prentiss, you can't call dibs on him."
"I'll have him putting in on the opposing side, of course… you know, split the bet with Jaje, that way he'll owe me dinner." She winked. Suddenly Morgan realized she meant her double entendre fully.
"Fair enough, but we can't run interference in either way." He clarified, "After all, caffeine's no good for him right now… so no spiking anything on him."
JJ smiled, "You can try to police him too, he's Spence, he'll find a way to coffee." She pulled another pin from the board, the map toppled.
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Rossi opened the door for Reid and Hotch as Hotch half-dragged a stumbling Reid into the hotel, it was obvious Reid was asleep, convincing him to stay that way AND walk had been an adventure, but Hotch was sure the younger agent would appreciate that over him being carried bridal-style over the threshold to a cheap hotel any day of the week.
"You need anything, Aaron?" Rossi asked while stepping inside Reid's hotel room.
"Let me know if you ever get that grant for a time-machine." Hotch mentioned almost bitter-sweet. "Other than that, I'm fine for now."
"Aaron, the kid'll be fine." Rossi offered.
"Reid's resilient, but that doesn't mean I want to see how many times we can press the self-destruct button before it sticks. I'm sorry, I'm venting, you're tired, I'm tired, we're all tired, so you should get back and rest or pack pick one."
"Don't pull this shit on me. I know you care about him, and I know right now you're bottling up your emotions to be a strong face, and you know it too. But what you probably don't realize is that you don't have to do that bull shit for me. I'm a big boy and I can handle your problems too, you can let it out to me and it won't affect how we work together or even what I think of you. You're still a workaholic who looks like he packs to go to funerals."
"I keep forgetting how much of an ass you are if you miss out on your night-cap." Hotch smiled warmly, that made Rossi's shoulders relax a bit.
"You and the ex-wives." He pointed his thumb over his shoulder at Reid whom Hotch had deposited on the bed, "If you find yourselves needing anything remember two things, I'm here if you need me… and the room next to his is empty, behave."
Hotch raised an eyebrow at Rossi, "How much did Emily hear?"
"Anything she heard about anything like that she was smart enough not to say. She might not like politics, but she's not an idiot about them either. I'm sure the team knows regardless, but that's not what matters."
"And in your professional opinion, what would that be?" Hotch said, crossing his arms a bit defensively.
"Well, obviously that you two make each other as happy as you can for as long as you can… Strauss be damned, and same with the rest of the brass. You think they've never broken a policy to get what they wanted? The point is, what they wanted wasn't anywhere near as important when they did it. Ah, but maybe my age and bitter divorce settlements have made me a romanticist."
"You're a regular Hallmark card." Hotch said, deadpan.
"And with that, I've outstayed my welcome. Have a good night. I'll give you a wake-up call at 6."
"No need." Hotch asserted.
"Fine by me. G'night."
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Hotch's cell phone chirped loudly three times before his hand fumbled to find the off switch and look at it incredulously as he realized the time. He had just dozed off after working on the report, watching Reid sleep in a semi-peaceful state for the most of it.
He touched Reid's shoulder gently, "Spencer, Spencer it's time to wake up." His other hand rubbed at his own tired eyes. Reid rolled in the bed trying to get away from the invasive hand, his mind hell-bent on sleep. "Reid… wake up already."
Reid grumbled when Hotch's voice turned into stern drill sergeant mode, "'m tired though…five more minutes…"
Hotch's eyebrow shot up, "Reid, wake up." He smiled fondly as he decided to poke Reid's shoulder, hoping to annoy him enough to stir.
Reid swatted at the hand before sitting up, becoming more aware he apologized, "Huh? Oh… sorry… sorry I was still asleep…" He let out a long yawn.
"I know, that's fine. How's your head doing…?" Hotch asked hopefully.
"Fifteen."
"…Fifteen what…?" Hotch asked clearly confused.
Reid was all too happy to clarify, "On a scale of one to ten, ten being the worst pain in your life, fifteen. I feel like I should be dead." He stretched his arms looking around for some form of distraction to take away from the pulsating ache that was traversing his skull in rapid succession.
"I think there's an ice machine down the hall. I'll be right back." Hotch offered, taking up his room key-card. "Just stay here and I'll be right back."
"No way, Hotch, you don't have to. I'll go…" Reid received something just shy of a glare, the definitive order behind it was loud and clear. "…Okay, uh, thanks." He blushed.
Hotch put his hand on Reid's shoulder, "Just try to rest. I'll be back soon." He leaned in quickly and pressed his lips gently to Reid's cheek.
Reid gawked before snapping back to senses, too bad Hotch was out of the room by time Reid had managed to accomplish that feat. "…Right."
It had taken him approximately three minutes to locate the ice machine, procure ice in a bucket and realize that the horrible grinding sound the machine made would have been catastrophically horrible for Reid to have heard had he come along. Smiling to himself for being able to shield Reid from at least that much discomfort, Hotch returned victoriously to Reid's room with the prized ice. Unlocking the door, Hotch entered and found Reid curled against the headboard, already nearing sleep.
As quietly as he could manage, Hotch maneuvered the ice into an ice-pack and laid it on the side of Reid's temple, long fingers curved over his own as he held the ice-pack up. "Thanks." Reid let out in a mewl. "Still tired… goin' back to sleep now."
"That's fine, I'll wake you up in another hour." He snuggled closer to Reid, set his phone and then closed his eyes in companionable silence.
TBC.